£75m student scheme gets go ahead

Cambridge council has granted planning permission for a £75m student housing scheme by developer Downing.

The scheme, for three blocks comprising 586 bedrooms, has been designed by architect Falconer Chester Hall to achievea Breeam “excellent” rating.

The Liverpool-based developer said the accommodation will comprise a mixture of contemporary cluster flats and studios with a retail arcade on the ground floor, with work due to start in spring 2013 to complete by autumn 2014.